Combined coat and skirt hanger



COMBINED COAT AND SKIRT HANGER Filed Feb. 23, 1939 NIH Patented Sept.24, 1940 PATENT OFFICE COMBINED COAT AND SKERT HANGER Hubert F. Shannon,Jackson Heights, N. Y., as-

signor, by direct and mesne assignments, to Patent Syndicate, New York,N. Yr, an unincorporated association Application February 23, 1939,Serial No. states 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a combined coat and skirt hanger.

Coat hangers of the less expensive kind have been heretoforehandicapped, as is widely appreciated, by the fact that, in actual use,a mans coat usually slid off or to one end or the other of the hangerbar, while a ladys coat became draped, by said bar, in an entirelyunnatural and flat position, the inadequacy being due perhaps,primarily, to the fact that the hanger bar afforded the sleeves, at theshoulders, little or no support. Satisfactory results have, of course,been afforded, more or less, by expensive hangers of the form-shapedkind, but insofar as is known, the less expensive type of hanger stillremains an inefficiently short bar, on the one hand, or a skeletondevice ofwire, onthe other hand. In neither instance, is such minimumhanger construction generally adapted to support a ladys 20 skirt.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a combineddevice adapted to meet the demand of an inexpensive hanger which willsupport both a ladys coat and skirt at the same time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device wherein theskirt sustaining spring employed will be of such shape and so arrangedbeneath the hanger bar that a skirt drapped on said spring will tend toprovide shaping-bulk for a coat draped over the hanger bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device wherein the skirtsustaining spring will be so shaped as to provide a unitary pair ofspring 35 arms tending to spread apart within the waistband of a skirtfor thus extending the skirt in flat front and rear panels andeliminating wrinkles in the skirt by sustaining the cloth thereof tohang substantially flat at said panels.

Still another object is to provide a device wherein the spring arms willbe provided with angles or elbows over which the waistband of a skirtmay be engaged to thus hold the skirt against slippage from said arms.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device wherein thespring arms will be of a length and so disposed below the hanger bar asto extend within the sleeves of a coat, near the shoulders, when a skirtis not present on said arms, thus to sustain and drape the sleeveswhile, at the same time, obviating slippage of the coat toward one endor the other of the hanger bar or flat sagging of the sleeves of thecoat.

And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a devicewhich, while incorporating the salient practical advantages enumerated,as well as others, will, nevertheless, be of extremely simpleconstruction and adapted, in competitive manufacture, to offer moreintrinsic worth for the same popular price or less. 5

Other and incidental objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds and in the drawing:

Figure l is ,a. perspective View of my improved coat and skirt hanger.

Figure 2 is an elevation showing, in dotted lines, a skirt attached tothe hanger spring.

Figure 3 is an elevation of a modified structure showing the use of atubular hanger bar.

Figure 4 is a detail elevation of a further modification showing the useof shoulder shaping knobs at the ends of a wooden hanger bar, partsbeing broken away and depicted in section.

Figure 5 is a detail elevation of still another modification showing theuse of shoulder shaping knobs at the ends of a tubular bar, parts beingbroken away and depicted in section.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, Iemploy a curved hanger bar Ill having flat parallel sides and roundedends. This bar is preferably, in this variation of the invention, ofsuitable wood. Extending through or otherwise suitably fixed to the barat the crown of the curve thereof is anappropriate hook orsuspendingdevice II, which may be of wire as shown. I

Extending along the lower concave edge of the hanger bar it is a skirtsustaining spring 12, preferably formed of a strip of suitable resilientmetal and somewhat longer than the bar H]. The spring i2 is, to meet theexigencies of symmetry and convenience, preferably of a widthsubstantially equal to the thickness of said bar so as to lie flush atits edges with the sides of the bar and while, on the whole, the springis concavo-convex to conform to the curvature of the lower edge of thebar H3, said spring is, nevertheless, com posed, preferably, of threechordal portions, comprising a center portion l3 and side portions Hi,all substantially of equal length. Locating angles l5 are thus definedin the spring at the junctions of the portions l3 and It thereof toreceive screws lb or other suitable fastening devices rigidly connectingthe spring with the hanger bar Ill.

As will be perceived, angles H are also defined -in the spring H2 at theouter ends of the chordal portions M. These angles I! provide shouldersor elbows which normally abut the lower edge of the bar It near itsextremities while the free end portions of the spring are arcuatelycurved to form a pair of spring arms: l8 bowing downwardly and outwardlywell beyond the free ends of said bar. Slipped over or otherwise fixedto the free ends of the arms I8 are friction tips l9 which may be ofrubber.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing, I have shown, in dotted lines, a conventionalskirt attached to the spring l2, the waistband of the skirt beingindicated at 20. As will be observed, the spring arms l8 are insertedinto the upper end of the skirt with the result that the arms arecompressed or flexed toward each other by the skirt and preferably, theskirt is so disposed that the waistband 2E1 thereof lies above or atleast extends over the elbows l1. Thus, the arms l8 are tensioned togrip the skirt and support the skirt upon the spring while the elbows I!will bear into the material of the waistband or into the material of theskirt just below the waistband to prevent slippage of the skirt fromsaid arms. Moreover, the tips I9 will afford a pronounced frictionalhold on the skirt at the free ends of the arms so that accidentalrelease of the skirt will be prevented while also, said tips willprotect the skirt against gouging or injury by the metal edges at theterminals of the arms. Accordingly, as will be seen, the skirt will besustained below the bar to provide distending or shaping bulk for a coatdisposed upon said bar.

As will be noted, the screws IS in reality determine, by their location,the effective length of the arms l8 since flexing of the free endportions of the spring l2, when a skirt is engaged with said arms,occurs from said screws outward. However, by employing a unitary spring,flexing tension on each arm will be influenced toward equalizationbetween the arms while also, by employing a pair of screws, possiblerotation of the spring out of the plane of the bar ill will beprevented.

As previously indicated, the elbows I! preferably lie close to the endsof -the bar ID with the result that the major portion of the length ofthe arms !8 is disposed beyond the terminals of the bar. The projectingend portions of the arms are thus disposed, when a skirt is not engagedwith the arms, to extend within the sleeves of a coat adjacent theshoulders to afford a more or less shaping support for the shoulderportions of the sleeves. Furthermore, the projecting end portions ofsaid arms will, at the same time, tend to prevent slipping of the coattoward one end or the other of the bar.

In Figure 3 of the drawing, I have shown a modification of the inventionwherein the hanger bar is indicated at 20a and the skirt sustainingspring at 2|. In this variation, the bar 20a is of tubular constructionand the spring 2! is connected thereto by rivets or other suitablefastenings 22. The bar may be of metal and formed therein are scatteredopenings 23 while disposed in the ends of the bar are removable closureplugs 24 which may be of cork. The bar is thus fashioned to removablyreceive an absorbent filler, as indicated at 25, of cotton or otherapproved material. Thus, this filler may be impregnated with a suitablemoth repellant, the odors from which will, of course, emerge through theopenings 23 and so come into contact vsn'th the garments supported bythe hanger. If preferred, the filler 25 may be impregnated with cologne,sachet, or the like.

In Figure 4, I have shown another modification wherein the hanger bar isindicated at 26 and the skirt sustaining spring at 21. The bar may be ofwood and suitably flexed to the ends thereof are tapered shouldershaping knobs 28 fashioned more or less to fit within the shoulders of acoat, the knobs being rounded. These knobs may be of any approvedmaterial and formed therein are one or more ventilated chambers 29closed at their outer ends by removable plugs 30 like the plugs 24. Thechambers 29 are thus each adapted to removably receive a suitable flller3| corresponding to the filler 25 and capable of serving a likefunction.

In Figure 5 of the drawing I have shown still another modification ofthe invention wherein the hanger bar is indicated at 32 and the skirtsustaining spring at 33. In this variation, the bar 32 is of perforatedtubular construction similar to the bar 20 and is closed at its ends byremovable plugs 34 like the plugs 24, while within the bar is removablydisposed a filler 35 like the fillers 25 and 3| and capable of serving alike function. Suitably fled to the ends of the bar are shoulder knobs36 like the knobs 28 except that as the bar 32 is tubular to receive thefiller 35, the knobs 36 are without chambers like the chambers 29.Except as specified, all of the modified structures are otherwiseidentical with the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawingand further description is accordingly believed unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A combined coat and skirt hanger including a curved hanger bar having aconcave lower edge, a flat substantially concavo-convex springsubstantially conforming to the curvature of the lower edge of the barand of a width substantially equal to the thickness of said bar, saidspring being formed from a sheet metal strip bent to provide a centerchordal portion and flanking side chordal portions terminating in curvedspring arms extending well beyond the ends of said bar to curvedownwardly therefrom for engagement within the upper portion of a skirthaving a waistband flexing the arms toward each other, the side chordalportions of the spring being joined with the center chordal portion byangles seated against the lower edge of the bar and said arms beingjoined with the side chordal portions by angles forming elbows at theinner ends of said arms normally abutting the lower edge of the bar butadapted to provide prominences coacting with the waistband of the skirtfor securing the skirt against slippage from said arms, and fasteningdevices rigidly fixing the spring to the bar at the angles delimitingthe center chordal portion whereby the spring may freely fiex from saidfastening devices to the ends thereof while the center chordal portionwill tend to equalize flexing stress upon the end portions of thespring.

HUBERT F. SHANNON.

